City of Wanneroo aims to change attitudes towards rubbish with new plan

ENCOURAGING best practice when it comes to household rubbish is the focus of a plan that says the average City of Wanneroo household throws 1.1 tonnes of waste into their bins each year.

The council adopted its Strategic Waste Management Plan this month, which outlines a strategy to find ways to increase awareness of the best ways to dispose of rubbish and divert waste from landfill.

“Kerbside collection services are provided to approximately 66,000 households within the City,” the plan said.

“The average City household disposes 1.1 tonnes of waste through kerbside collected bins each year.”

The plan said key drivers for the strategy included renewed government focus on environmental issues, increasing public support to minimise waste to landfill and the projected population growth.

It has five priorities to meet the 2020 target of a 65 per cent diversion from landfill, including regular audits of bin contents to understand what materials were disposed and the levels of contamination.

Following months of community consultation, the council unanimously noted the feedback and adopted the Strategic Waste Management Plan on November 7.

During April consultation, the City received 731 responses to an online survey, with 60 per cent of those coming from people living in Alkimos (87), Yanchep (78), Landsdale (62), Butler (58), Banksia Grove (58), Wanneroo (43) and Tapping (43).

The November council report said, during further consultation in August-September, the City received 16 responses, most through another online survey.

“Many of the responses received reinforce the details highlighted by the community during the earlier survey stage of the development process of the plan,” it said.

The report said those issues included that yellow-lid recycling bins were not big enough or fortnightly pick-ups were not frequent enough, that there should be more waste education and supporting a three-bin system.

“There were some new ideas proposed to enhance reuse and recycling within the community – drop-off points, tip shop, community gardens, e-waste collection, etc – which will be considered and assessed during the next stages,” it said.

The plan said the 56,363 tonnes of general waste collected from households in 2015-16 was treated at Mindarie Regional Council’s resource recovery facility, where about half was turned into compost and the rest then went to landfill in Tamala Park.

The 16,730 tonnes of recycling collected from yellow-lid household bins was processed at a private Bayswater facility, where plastic, glass, cardboard and metal products were separated and baled, then shipped to be recycled into new products.

According to the plan, the City collected 6005 tonnes of bulk junk in 2015-16 during the once-a-year verge collections.

“These materials are compacted in rear-loading trucks and disposed of directly to landfill, with minimal recycling,” it said.

Green waste that is collected once a year or taken by residents to the Wangara Greens Recycling Facility is processed into mulch.